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Thankful

I am thankful that I now live in a part of the country that's very foreign to me, with no family, friends or loved ones within six-hundred miles, who would be doing annoying things right now like competing for my attention, thus preventing me from sitting alone in my computer-room and posting an entry at TCR on Thanksgiving day. Oh, wait a minute, no, that didn't come out quite right. Let me try again.
*I'm thankful that the Cubs are investing a ridiculous amount of time and money in Soriano and not in Matthews or Pierre. *I'm thankful that we are under new on-field and executive management. *I'm thankful for seeing my first Cubs game in person since 2000, this summer. It was a beautiful day, I went with the most important person in my life, Pierre stole a couple bases, Jones hit a home run, and Howry blew the game. As perfect a day as I could have asked for. *I'm thankful that there's both a "mute" and an "off" button for the Thanksgiving Day Schlockfest. er, Parade. *I'm thankful for Ivy. *And for Len and Bob. *And for another five years of Aramis Ramirez, loafing and all. *And for the likelihood of many, many more years of Zambrano. *I'm thankful that in this winter's market, the Cubs have lots of relief pitching to deal. *I'm thankful that my family is all basically in good health, and waited until reasonable hours of the morning to begin phoning. *I'm thankful that I finished all my schooling, and that it looks like I'll finish my first semester of teaching World History without having instigated any riots or religious wars. *I'm thankful that Ruz hasn't fired me for being AWOL too frequently, and then showing up to write brief, schmaltzy fluff-pieces when no one will be looking. *I'm thankful to be a part of the most lively, entertaining, combative, humane, thoughtful, ridiculous, diverse and passionate group of Cubs fans for, what has it been for me, now, almost five years?
What are you thankful for, Cubs-related or otherwise?
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By Transmission at Thu, 11/23/2006 - 10:57am

Tasty Names Redux

Huh, I had forgotten about This Entry from last Thanksgiving, the All-Food team. For your consuming pleasure, here it is, again, with a few updates. The only eligiblity requirements for the team are that the player: A. has a food-related name B. at some point played for the Cubs C. has a food-related name that is so delicious, and plays a position where the Cubs don't have a home-grown alternative, thus requiring an imaginary trade so that we can complete our roster. There isn't much pitching or infield depth to this team, but you've got to love the outfield...
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By Transmission at Wed, 11/22/2006 - 9:29am

TCR Reader Response Roundtable!

Without further ado........ 1. Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, is there any reasonable scenario that you can see him staying? And if he does go, sum up his tenure in 2 sentences or less. (Again, question asked and answers submitted in advance of the firing)
Vorare No, I can't imagine Dusty staying. Even if Hendry wanted to resign him--perhaps to make Ramirez, Pierre, and Zambrano happy--I still don't think Dusty wants to be in Chicago any more. His comments to the media regarding the racist email pretty well demonstrated that; you don't intimate that your team's fanbase is full of racist hatemongers if you plan on sticking with that team. I think pretty much everyone, including Dusty, knows that he's done in Chicago. As for his time here? I can sum it up in two words: Neifi Perez. Perez was emblematic of most of Dusty's problems. Bleeding Blue Can I see him staying, yes. I still can't figure out a logical reason why he wasn't removed long ago. The best guess I can come up with is that Hendry has too much respect for Dusty to fire him mid-season, and he wants to allow Dusty the chance to leave in what will appear to be a mutual decision on good terms. Sadly, that same respect could also get him an extension offer. If Dusty is removed, his term will be best described as Extreme Underperformance. The Cubs have never lived up to their potential under Dusty's Regime, and have always found an excuse for why it's not their fault. Mike C No. Complete and utter disaster. No manager in the history of this franchise was given more and produced less than Dusty Baker.
2. Assuming Dusty joins the unemployment line, what do you want out of the next Cubs manger in terms of personality and qualities. Is there an individual you have in mind?
Vorare I think the manager at the major league level is overrated, so my requirements are simple. I want a guy who will keep the players focused and relatively happy, and I want a guy who will, in terms of filling out the lineup card, put the team in the best possible position to win on a daily basis. Beyond that, I don't think in-game strategy decisions have a significant impact on the team's record at the end of the season unless those decisions are, as we've seen at times over the last four years, mind-bogglingly stupid. I don't have any specific individuals in mind for the job, but I'd definitely prefer that it be someone with a low profile--a current coach, minor league manager, or a major league manager with minimal experience. I hear good things about Ron Washington and I respect Joe Girardi's professionalism, so I'd be happy either either of them. Bleeding Blue More than anything else, I want a manager who will hold the players accountable. He doesn't have to be a hard-ass, and he should have the respect of his players, but he also needs to hold the player accountable, especially in regards to fundamentals. He doesn't have to be a master tactician, but someone with a better sense of strategy will be a welcome change. Freddi Gonzalez is the name I find most interesting, although I will admit that I don't know enough about him to say he's the guy. Girardi is interesting, although based on what I've read I'm not sure that he's the right guy for the job. Mike C I want a manager who has some discipline in his background. I think the last 2-3 Cubs managers have tried to be everyone's best friend, and let the players do what they want when they want. Girardi is a nice example of a manager who is willing to work with players and gain their respect without being their best friend.
3. At what point did you give up your playoff aspirations for the 2006 Cubs? (continued below the fold)
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By Transmission at Wed, 10/04/2006 - 12:12pm

I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

And it's a train. END OF YEAR IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] IT DOESN'T MATTER (W - DO WE CARE? L - NO WE DON'T) AT THE SKOKIE POLICE AND FIRE RECREATIONAL SOFTBALL TEAM (W - BAD- L - WORSE) Wrigley Field, 1:20 pm, or just whenever. Come in late, bring the family, all the ticket-takers quit yesterday. Weather: A swirling mix of 77% Nitrogen, 22% Oxygen and 1% Cub Fog TV: Something other than WGN. Who decided I don't get to watch the last Cubs game? Radio: WGN, XM 188
Fragile Veteran Pitcher D (Stats: 90% has-been, 10% never-was) against Some Guy We've Never Heard OF, RHP (His Stats Don't Matter. He Doesn't Have Any. He will win.)
Who cares about the game? The catering in Parachat is to die for. Try the Womacked Crab Cakes, they're a specialty.
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By Transmission at Sun, 10/01/2006 - 9:43am

Invitation Update

Don't believe what you're hearing on Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, or reading in the NY Post or Daily Mirror or Weekly World News. To set things straight, once and for all.
* No, the Parachat party hasn't been cancelled due to fire-code violations * No, we aren't letting Mariotti be the DJ * No, it's not true that Neifi Perez is threatening to sue us for libel or slander if we go through with the Parachat party * No, the VIP section of the Parachat Club is not a ghost subsidiary of the Tribune * No, the gift-bags you will receive upon entry are not taxable income, the IRS can not go after you for whatever baubles you might receive at the party. * Yes, we've done thorough background check on ALL of the Hell's Angels that we hired for private security. * To the best of our knowledge, no, participating in this event does not make you an "enemy combatant." * Yes, Augie Ojeda will be serving drinks. * Yes, we turned away Paris Hilton, and yes, we got a restraining order on Joan and Melissa Rivers to keep them 1000 feet away.
I hope this clears up any confusion. See you in Parachat on Sunday.
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By Transmission at Fri, 09/29/2006 - 2:33pm

Looking Back

As I get ready to do some editing on the end-of-year roundtable (and those of you who haven't gotten your answers in yet, you know who you are), I thought I'd take a look back at what we thought about this team at the beginning of the season. Obviously no one foresaw Derrek Lee's injury, but plenty of people foresaw Wood & Prior's struggles. Just about everyone thought Matt Murton would have a decent-to-good year if he got to play, and opinion was decidedly mixed on whether or not the Juan Pierre trade would turn out to be a good one. Opinion was also mixed on Rafael Furcal, with lots of people wishing the Cubs had done what it took to sign him, and others suggesting that what it took was too much. I thought I'd pull out a few predictions, ones that look smart in retrospect and ones that don't, so we can all cast our minds back to six months ago, when anything seemed possible. I mean no disrespect to those people who show up on the bad side of the ledger, all of whom had some prescient things to say as well. If you want to read full responses, you can go back and see what TCR writers, TCR readers, and other Cubs bloggers had to say. The end-of-year roundtable will be posted early next week. THE GOOD MikeC: "A possible disappointment could be Ryan Dempster, he still hasn't got his control problems fixed. Very lucky pitcher last year and baseball has a tendency to even out that luck." ruz: "Jones, meanwhile, will be an albatross by 2008, but this year I expect him to contribute." Rob G.: "Iím glad they stayed away from A.J. Burnett, big upside but just as injury prone as any of our big guys." John Hill: "The short-term results, especially in Cedenoís case, may be ugly, no better than what Neifi Perez might achieve." Rob G.: "I think the biggest surprise will actually be Jacque Jones." ruz: "Sean Marshall looks like he's going to get a chance to prove some things in April, but I think before the end of the year it'll be a different tall lefty, Rich Hill, we'll be talking about." MannyTrillo: "[Hendry] did not properly prepare for the very likely injuries to Wood and Prior."
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By Transmission at Fri, 09/29/2006 - 8:39am

Invitation

This has been a wretched excuse of a year. To celebrate our release from suffering on October 1st, I invite everyone to ring out the year in style, in Parachat. Let's fill the chatroom for the Sunday Oct. 1, 1:20 pm game against the Rockies, and toast the end to another fruitless season. Come in costume, come naked, come drunk, or with the lucid sobreity of a fan who has seen it all and wishes to see no more. Tell the bouncer at the door that you're a Friend of Trans, and he'll be sure to let you in. He'll ask you to check your sour mood at the door, but otherwise, anything goes!
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By Transmission at Wed, 09/27/2006 - 12:14pm

The Makings of a Disaster: A Chronology

GAME 47 RECAP
BRAVES 6 BAD-NEWS BEARS 5
Recap | Box Score | Play-by-play | Game Chart | Photos
W: Mike Remlinger (2-2) L: Ryan Dempster (0-3) S: Kenny Ray (1)
So I decided that I'd keep a chronology of today's game, from start to finish. Little did I know that it would be a chronology of one of those games that is emblematic of what it means to be a Cubs fan, or to play Cubs-style baseball. At least it was an entertaining loss, which is more than what can be said of the other Cubs losses, of late. The rest is below the fold.
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Game Recap
By Transmission at Fri, 05/26/2006 - 3:27pm

Today in Cubs History: Thirty Years of Monday

DC Tom alerted me to the 30th anniversary of the Monday game, and I in turn asked him to share his memories and thoughts on the game. My remarks come first, and his remarks follow. I hope you enjoy these two perspectives. Or, at least, his! Readers of this site, historically, have expressed the full range of opinions about whether and how baseball and politics mix, and how they ought to mix, if at all. My own opinion is that politics is the process of publicly contesting the proper ordering of society ñ its distribution of resources, its expression of values and priorities, and the extent and nature of persons' obligations to each other. Far from being a dirty word, or something done only in designated locations, like city hall, I see politics as virtually synonymous with social living. Baseball, which in a thousand different ways rests within a social context, is inextricably linked to politics; To me, those connections often are as subtle and intriguing as the game itself. Most of the time, however, most people donít notice these connections, and donít particularly care. It is, after all, the game itself that matters the most to the baseball fan. But occasionally, a particular connection between baseball and the wider political climate becomes the thing that truly matters. Jackie Robinson's debut with the Dodgers. Jack Buck, trembling from physical infirmity and the emotion of the moment, on September 17th, 2001. ìI have never used steroids. Period.î And thirty years ago, today, on what was the 100th anniversary of the first game the Chicago Cubs ever played, Rick Monday, Chicago Cubs center-fielder, grabbing an American flag from a man who had run onto the field in order to set the flag on fire.
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Cubs history
Rick Monday
By Transmission at Tue, 04/25/2006 - 3:31pm

Today in Cubs History: 12-23

Not too much happens, generally, the closer we get to Christmas. But here's one gem: 12-23-1997 - Traded Doug Glanville to the Philadelphia Phillies. Received Mickey Morandini. I believe there will be at least one detailed article, perhaps more, posted today and tomorrow. So feel free to use this as an open-thread, while the articles stay more on-topic.
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Cubs history
Today in Cubs History
By Transmission at Fri, 12/23/2005 - 1:17am

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